THE TEAM
Peter Chu (he/him)
Artistic Director, Founder
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Originally from Cocoa Beach, Florida, Peter Chu is a distinguished artist who strives to push the physical bounds of dance. He began his training as a competitive gymnast, later nurturing his artistry under Liz Bevilacqua and Al Packard, where his evolution into dance began. As a BFA student at The Juilliard School (under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy), Chu was pushed further as a technical mover and began an explosive journey into choreography. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Hector Zaraspe Prize for Choreography.
Chu is a remarkable and multi-faceted artist. As a performer, he has danced with Ballet Jazz Montreal and EZdanza, as the lead in Christina Perri’s Jar of Hearts music video, in Celine Dion’s Vegas spectacular A New Day, and with Crystal Pite’s company Kidd Pivot.
In 2008, Chu formed a Las Vegas project-based company chuthis. His multi-disciplinary dance company combines innovative lighting and sound with live contemporary movement. In 2018, chuthis. presented paper cuts in an empty bag at Zuiderstrandtheater in The Hague, Netherlands, as a part of the Shortcuts XL program, and was the company in residence at Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp. A part of the mission of chuthis. is to provide movement education programs for the next generation of artists. Through the chuthis. Movement Intensive, an annual summer event, and chuthis. Moves, a 2-3 day custom workshop for both national and international dance schools, the chuthis. team fosters technical/artistic development and mind/body familiarity while igniting an adventurous side of dance.
Chu has been an honored recipient of choreographic awards & commissions, including the Capezio A.C.E. Award & Hubbard Street Dance International Commission Project. He was also named a Blodgett Distinguished Artist by Harvard University for 2018. Additionally, Chu has served as the Rehearsal Director for Nederlands Dans Theater 2, and as a Guest Rehearsal Director for NDT1.
Chu has created works for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Staatstheater Augsburg, Germany, Gibney Dance Company, Charlotte Ballet, Cirque du Soleil, Charlotte Ballet II, Orlando Ballet Theatre, Hubbard Street 2, Giordano Dance Chicago, So You Think You Can Dance, Naomi Stikeman’s Çaturn, Houston MET Dance, New Dialect, SALT Contemporary Dance, The Juilliard School, Harvard University, Point Park University, Nederlands Dans Theater Summer Intensive, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Springboard Danse Montreal, SUNY Purchase, Western Michigan University, & Brigham Young University Contemporary Dance Theatre, among others. Teaching highlights include Harvard University (Guest Lecturer), HSPro, Springboard X | shift perspective, Axis Connect, Hubbard Street Studio Series, The Dance Teacher Summit, and Movement Invention Project.
Most recently, in 2022, Chu premiered ‘Rhythmic Identity’ with his own company chuthis. in a co-production with Houston Contemporary at The Asia Society Texas.
Jenni Gordon (she/her)
Education Program Director,
Administrative & Artistic Collaborator
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Jenni Gordon, a freelance movement artist and educator, received a BFA in Dance, Magna Cum Laude, from the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College. During her time at Purchase, she also studied at London Contemporary Dance School, where she performed the work of Merce Cunningham. A Houston native, Jenni graduated from the High School for the Performing & Visual Arts and trained at Rowland School of Ballet in Kingwood, Texas. Jenni has performed works by Peter Chu, Frances Chiaverini, Danielle Desnoyers, Lane Gifford, Kazuko Hirabayashi, Ginnette Laurin, Tom Weinberger, and Twyla Tharp.
Jenni is honored to have been a member of chuthis., a contemporary dance company under the direction of choreographer Peter Chu, from the beginning. She also serves as an assistant on many of Chu’s teaching and choreographic endeavors, including commissions for Charlotte Ballet and Staatstheater Augsburg. Most recently, Jenni has staged Peter’s work on SALT Contemporary Dance Company, Marymount Manhattan College, University of Utah, Booker T. Washington HSPVA, and Charlotte Ballet’s Pre-Professional Program, among others. Jenni has also acted as assistant and rehearsal director for many of Peter’s recent creations, including pieces for Ballet Augsburg, Germany, Charlotte Ballet, Giordano Dance Chicago, and Charlotte Ballet II.
Jenni is also very passionate about movement education; she serves as the Education Program Director for chuthis., and travels throughout the country as a guest educator. In 2020, Jenni became a certified teacher of IMAGE TECH for Dancers™, a weight-bearing somatic practice created by Alexandra Wells. Teaching highlights include SpringboardX | shift perspective, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, RDA’s National Choreography Intensive, & MIP2. Jenni lives in Austin, TX with her family.
Krystal Matsuyama-Tsai (she/her)
Administrative & Artistic Collaborator
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Krystal Matsuyama-Tsai (she/her) is a Japanese American movement artist, researcher, and educator born and raised in Southern California. She has taught at various schools across the Southwest and internationally in Costa Rica and Taiwan. Her teaching and creative philosophy centers holistic well-being, mind/body curiosity, and critical inquiry. Through this philosophy she continually seeks to humanize and contextualize dance and the overall dance experience with her students and colleagues. With her love of collaboration and fostering community, creating and discovering opportunities to create with artists across various disciplines and demographics excites her.
Krystal’s early dance training started at Orange County Dance Center, under the direction of Terri and Anthony Sellars and later expanded at the University of California, Irvine, where she worked under the close mentorship of Jodie Gates and Douglas Becker, and was a member of the legendary and late Donald McKayle’s Etude Ensemble. In her professional career she has danced with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, BARE Dance Company, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and ENTITY Contemporary Dance. She has had the honor of performing works by choreographers in both commercial and concert dance industries including Bryan Arias, Peter Chu, Daniel Ezralow, Mike Esperanza, Charlotte Griffin, Will Johnston, Alex Ketley, Jiří Kylián, Mia Michaels, Marissa Osato, and Dwight Rhoden, amongst others. She has additionally supported her education and training by attending workshops and intensives at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Ate9 Dance Company, BodyTraffic, Countertechnique, Northwest Dance Project, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and Springboard Danse Montréal.
Currently Krystal is a on faculty at Chapman University, and is a collaborating artist with Peter Chu’s chuthis. Additionally, she is the Artistic Associate for the Laguna Dance Festival, founded by Jodie Gates, and recently co-founded a community-focused dance organization, Hyphen Art House, with her friend and colleague Megan Guise. She proudly holds her BFA and MFA degrees in Dance from the University of California, Irvine, and feels lucky to be loved by her partner Rob and pug Hachi.
Roger Van der Poel (he/him)
Administrative, Media & Artistic Collaborator
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Roger Van Der Poel is a Portuguese-Dutch award-winning dancer. Started his dance education at the National Conservatory of Lisbon at the age of eighteen. His dance career includes Ballet Gulbenkian, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève and, for the last fourteen years, the acclaimed Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT).
Roger’s performance repertoire includes existing works by & creations with Sol León & Paul Lightfoot, Crystal Pite, Jiri Kylián, Gabriela Carrizo, Franck Chartier, Marco Goecke, Ohad Naharin, William Forsythe and Mats Ek, among many others.
Roger has staged the work of Sol León & Paul Lightfoot and Crystal Pite internationally (Zurich Ballet, Oslo Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet British Columbia and The Australian Ballet) and guest teaches for dance schools and programs around the world and has been on regular faculty at NDT Summer Intensive and chuthis. Movement Intensive.
Roger was awarded the Dutch Zwaan for best dance performance of 2008 and the Encouragement Prize 2007 by the Stichting Dansersfonds’79 in Amsterdam.
In August 2020, Roger embarked on a new journey as a free-lance artist and educator, and joined chuthis. for their newest creation — Rhythmic Identity